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▣ New Arrivals
Last month I had the privilege of spending an afternoon with the Wright family at their home as they awaited the arrival of their first baby! Ironically, it was superbowl sunday to be exact so there was much steeler talk around the TV. The Wright's had received a gift certificate at their baby shower for some pre-arrival belly photos as well as baby's first photos once he arrives :-) It's a great gift idea to commemorate a life changing event for the amazing and beautiful experience that it is when love creates a life.
I know there are not many women who are loving their bodies at 9 months pregnant, but bellies are beautiful!
They are a fun fantastic couple and I know they will make great parents!
Gina had some great ideas for photos. She especially loved black and white. She has a beautiful sillhouette standing by the window in the nursery.
I loved this red wall in their dining room.
I am pleased to announce that the Wright's welcomed their first child, a healthy baby boy barely a week after we shot these photos! Talk about cutting it close :-D I can't wait to meet him in the next few months! Congratulations! Comments added to this post ▣ Pittsburgh Zoo
While my friend, Brenda, was home for the holidays back at New Year's - we visited the Pittsburgh Zoo with some friends. I have to say that January is not the best time to visit because many of the animals are behind closed doors for the winter, it's cold to walk around, and the normally lush scenery is just average pittsburgh january drab - BUT there are no lines and no crowds! You can spend all the time you want at each exhibit! I was excited to see the new baby elephants at the newly constructed elephant house, as well as the polar bears. The lions were hanging out on the rocks.
The aquarium was really cool! It was the first time I had visited the zoo since the aquarium was renovated a few years ago. It was nice to get in out of the cold and see all the exotic tropical fish!
This is Brenda - we met in the seventh grade and were friends ever since. She was home on leave from the United States Air Force where she is currently stationed and training in San Antonio, Texas to become a navigator. We are VERY proud of her :-)
She really wanted her picture with the giant praying mantis sculpture :-D Comments added to this post ▣ March Doldrums
2. You measure distance in hours. 14. You know all the news anchors on the local station and feel that you're on a first name basis. Comments added to this post ▣ Emily's Senior Pictures
We met Emily at Northmoreland Park for senior pictures - there was no snow but it was plenty cold! Sean held the reflector not just to balance the light, but also to block the wind. Brr! We started at the boathouse and worked our way around the lake. She has such a great smile!
We found the grungey garage door and thought it made good contrast to such a beautiful girl. We'd take "coat breaks" so she could put her winter coat back on or warm up in the car. She was so brave for wearing open toed shoes on such a frigid and windy day! It was worth it though - her photos were awesome!
Comments added to this post ▣ Emily & Carl - down the aisle and happily ever after
As promised - here is the rest of their story.
Emotions were high as Emily waited at the back of the church. Their ceremony held at Heinz Chapel during the christmas season, was simple, elegant, and sentimental.
Emily and her father walk arm and arm down the aisle as guests smiled and snapped photos. Image by Sean.
The view from the balcony - heinz chapel at christmas time.
Carl placed the ring on her finger.
They were all smiles for the rest of the night!
Just married :-)
Photo times are short at heinz chapel - we stretched a few more minutes out of our time by moving to the front steps. It was so warm outside that we decided to skip the limo ride and instead walk over to the cathedral of learning for photos.
The security guard was nice enough to let us wander freely through the great hall. You could still smell the fires that burned in the huge stone fireplaces. We found a great spot between the christmas trees.
After seeing the photos from Ashley & Allan's wedding, Emily and Carl were so excited to try the sparklers! But we learned an important lesson: 1. Get really long sparklers. These were a little too short. 2. Be careful if it's windy!! It made for a wild three minutes :-D
When we were done lighting up the night we walked across the street to the elegant Pittsburgh Athletic Club for the reception.
Some of the fantastic details at their big bash - a wire tree decorated with lights stood at the entrance covered in silver snowflakes that held photos from their years together. This one is Emily with her mom. On the right was their totally kick ass wedding favor - celebrating the spirit of pittsburgh they had miniature glass heinz ketchup bottles printed with their names and wedding date!
First dance together.
Their wedding cake was beautiful and smelled even better than it looked! Everytime the breeze wafted in through the open windows (it was so warm and they couldn't shut the boiler down that they opened the windows to let in the mild evening air) you caught a whiff of vanilla and sugar and butter and cake. Mmmmm.
Emily and her dad danced to Puff the Magic Dragon.
Emily dancing with her mom and all smiles through dinner!
When it was time to really cut loose and through the bouquet it got stuck in the chandelier! The guys made a pyramid and got it back down for Emily to do the re-throw.
This is why I love weddings. The great, great, people :-)
Carl with his best man.
Before the night was over we did some family photos in front of the giant christmas tree in the foyer. We loved the special steelers dance towards the end of the night! Congratulations Emily and Carl!
Salon: Dawn's Hair Design Accomodations: Holiday Inn at University Center Ceremony: Heinz Chapel Reception: Pittsburgh Athletic Club Cake: Cakes by Debbie Sutara
Comments added to this post ▣ Emily & Carl 12.27.08
This post marks an important event: I'm actually caught up with blog posting to something that happened after christmas! Crazy I know :-) Emily and Carl were married two days after christmas in oakland. Since they live out of state, I didn't get to meet them until the night before at their rehearsal. Emily was wearing a black dress and electric lime green shiny heels.
I liked her instantly.
Some people are just fun like that. I didn't realize it at the time but almost all the guests and relatives were from out of state including the bride and groom! It was something of a destination wedding - we just happened to live in the destination. It was really cool to see Pittsburgh celebrated in other people's eyes! After you've lived here all your life you kinda get used to it. But we are the city of bridges, surrounded by three rivers, home of the world champion pittsburgh steelers, heinz ketchup, sydney crosby, primantis sandwiches, we have a lot to be proud of.
On the morning of the wedding I met all of the girls at the Holiday Inn where everyone was staying in Oakland. They planned the event SO well. The hotel, the church, the reception, and their photo location were all within three blocks of eachother. That really makes the day go so much smoother. I even found a faster way to get to oakland thanks to my new GPS Sean got me for christmas. He was tired of worrying about me getting lost. When I arrived at the hotel, the group was kind enough to give me a ride in their party van over to the salon.
Dawn's Hair Design was a fantastic place! We went in and took over - all the girls got their hair and make up done. Emily's grandmother was nice enough to buy lunch for everyone from the greek place down the street. It was excellent.
Emily with her cousin and maid of honor.
Emily got the finishing touches applied to her make up and then they placed her veil and it was time to go. I have to remind you what day this was if you were in the pittsburgh area this christmas, you'll remember that the saturday right after was warm! In fact it was 57 degrees outside with no snow in the air and no snow on the ground. It was a heatwave!
It was so warm when the limo picked us up that we couldn't resist some fun pictures before we really got underway. We couldn't have been luckier - eventhough it would have been great to have snow for photos and to keep the christmas spirit - it would have been a nightmare getting across town if the roads were bad.
What a great bride :-D
Emily talking with her mom on the way back to the hotel. She was relaxed and happy the whole day!
This was so funny - not the greatest picture but I had to include it. Emily & Carl live out of state, right? Well we pulled up to the red light in front of the hotel and stop, Emily sees someone she knows out the window! Emily called out to them and they yelled back "Hey! It's great to see you! What are you doing here?" (sitting in a giant hummer limo at a red light) "I'm getting married!!!" she called back as the limo pulled away. She had the hugest smile on her face.
Beautiful shoes.
Back in their hotel rooms, Emily helped the girls get into their gowns. She did things a little differently - she chose a tone of red and allowed her bridesmaids to find their own dresses in their own style to coordinate. Down the hall the guys were supposed to be getting ready - hadn't even started yet ;-)
Once all the girls were ready and we'd taken a ton of photos around the hotel, we decided since the guys were taking their sweet time that we'd steal their limo and go to the church early! Guys have it so easy. All they have to do is shower and put on the rental tux. They don't have to start at 7 a.m. with showering and hair straightening, hair curling, hair removal, make up prep, make up application, make up touch-up, nail filing, nail painting, choosing from three different pairs of earrings, undergarments, over garments, things you wear to hold you in, things you wear to fluff your dress out, zipping, buttoning, pinning, bustling, and needing assistance to put your shoes on. Thank goodness for bridesmaids :-) It's a sacred post.
Downstairs in the bride's room at Heinz Chapel just a few minutes before the ceremony, Emily gets one last good luck hug from her brother.
Emily and her mom alone in the bride's room for a quiet moment before she meets her father at the top of the stairs to walk her down the aisle to Carl.
Check back for tomorrow's post when we go down the aisle and then to the party!! Comments added to this post ▣ Jess & Ed Engaged!
Jessica and Ed are getting married this May ! We met the week before christmas at the overlook at Mt. Washington at the place where Ed had proposed to do some engagement pictures. An engagement session is a great idea for two reasons:
They told me the story of his proposal. Ed brought her up the incline to see the city lights, then they walked up the sidewalk to the nearest overlook. Ed had enlisted the help of Jess's girlfriends who decorated the platform with a ring of candles and flower petals. (Then they hid in the bushes across the street with their cameras!) Ed brought her to the middle of the glowing circle of lights, got down on one knee, and asked her to marry him. And she said yes!
Eventhough we were just reenacting it for a photo - we had several onlookers pointing and smiling and getting out their own cameras. Even a few tourists who didn't speak english hung around just to see what would happen next. Love is contagious, everybody wants to be a part of it :-)
They are so cute together!
Stay tuned for photos from their wedding coming in May!
Comments added to this post ▣ Family Photos
I was lucky enough to photograph the C family and this little munchkin for the third year in a row! Although for four years old she's becoming quite a grown up young lady. This year was our best so far! For any families out there feeling despair over trying to get nice pictures of your 2 or 3 year old - it will be Ok. My friend the munchkin here was less then thrilled to have her photo taken when she was two and three and at times we wondered if it would ever be possible. But there's hope! Four years old is a magical age :-) Kids go back to being happy to have their photo taken (like they were when they were 1 and loved cameras). She was fantastic this year and had the best smile!
If you have a two or three year old who won't hold still - just be patient! The light at the end of the tunnel is just around the corner! Just remember that kids will be kids and they're only little like this for a while. Years from now their squirmy giggly antics which frustrated you now will be a treasured memory.
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